The eagle, two horses,Y shape, green and

DO YOU CARE TO KNOW ABOUT NIGERIA AT ALL?

The federal republic of Nigeria is a federal constitutional republic which has36 states and a federal capital territory. It is located in the heart of the westAfrican region and it shares borders with chad and Cameroon in the east,republic of Benin in the west and Niger in the North. The country has morethan 160 million citizens and that makes her the 9th most populous countryin the world. This is why its known as the giants of Africa.She gained her independence from Britain on the 1st October, 1960. Thereare more than 500 ethnic groups in the country and the three major onesbeing the Yorubas, Hausas and Igbos. The official language is English andthere are about 60% of Muslims majorly resident in the northern part thecountry.Nigeria is a member of UN, ECOWAS, African union, commonwealth ofnations, International criminal court, OPEC etc., and this makes her the 8thworlds largest exporter of crude oil.The country has one of the highest deposits of natural resources in theworld like tin, cotton, steel, gas, crude oil, aluminum, copper, gold, bronze,

THE NIGERIAN TRANSPORT SYSTEM

Being a mixed economy emerging market, US is the largest trading partnerof the country as it gets 11% of its total oil. Besides South Africa, Nigeria hasthe largest economy in the whole of Africa and the largest in the west Africansub-region.The key movers of the economy are telecommunications, petroleum,agriculture, science and technology, transport, Nigerian stock exchange(NSE), manufacturing, service industry etc. Despite all these, corruption,former military dictatorships regime and mismanagement of resources havehindered the development of the country.Transportation in Nigeria is can be traced down to the pre-colonial era whenHowever, for any nation to develop, one of the key areas to be developed isthe transport sector. This enhances developments in the economic andsocial aspects. In view of this, in 2010 the federal government of Nigeriadrafted the National transport policy whose fundamental goal is to developan adequate, safe, environmentally sound, efficient and affordable integratedtransport system within the framework of a progressive and competitivemarket economy.

TYPES OF TRANSPORT SYSTEM IN NIGERIA

The transport system in Nigeria is mainly divided into three parts namely:v LAND: This comprises the movements of cars, lorries, jeeps, heavy

and trains through the 3,500 km of railways.Although, the road transportation is commonest in the country, yet therestill a number of railways which transport people from one state to another.As a developing economy, road accidents are the commonest in thecountry. All forms of road transportation are deregulated by the governmentand therefore, the charged fares are unstable i.e. fluctuate with respect tothe whims and fancies of the bus operator.Usually, the conductors collect money from the passengers during trips butin some cases, a concept of OMO which means one man operator stillexists.Many citizens prefer to travel through buses, metered taxis etc. Also, there isBus rapid transit (BRT) in many places. However, accidents mainly occurthrough road transportation due to reckless driving, drugism and alcoholism.

A CROSS-SECTION OF ACCIDENTS ONNIGERIAN ROADS

CONTD.

CONTD.SEA: This involves travelling from one place to another through boats,canoes, submarines, ships on seas, rivers, oceans, lakes etc. Nigeria hasapproximately 12,932.752 (1.4%) of its total landmass covered by sea.However, most Nigerians do not like travelling by sea as they believe itposes a great deal of danger to them.Goods and cargoes are imported and exported from the country throughthis means by the shipping industry which involve the shipping agents. Thesector is also known as Maritime sector in Nigeria and its regulated bythe federal government of the country. The government has made somepolicies to enhance the smooth running of the industry and generated ahuge form of revenue into the economy. Also, the annual budget containssome quotas for the maritime sector.There are about 8,600km of inland waterways in the country and the sectoris controlled by many delegated authorities.There are a total of six sea ports in Nigeria which are all spread across thecountry.

A CROSS-SECTION OF THE NIGERIAN MARITIME

SECTOR

THE NIGERIAN PORTS AUTHORITY

This is the main body which controls the activities in the maritime sector

CONTD.v AIR TRANSPORT: No transport organization can operate profitably

unless there is a demand for its services. Air transport in Nigeria

comprises aircraft movements, freight traffic, passenger traffic and mailtraffic. In Nigeria, the demand for air transport has been on the increasefor the past three decades and the growth has significantly contributedpositively to the development of the economy. Fast connectionsbetween the diverse economic situations are better achieved throughair transportationNigeria has a total of 22 airports out of which 5 are internationals and17 local.The sector is regulated by the federal government under variousdesignated agencies. Nigeria has a number of local and internationalairlines which transport passengers, freights, mails etc. within andoutside the borders of the country.Among all the modes of transport, air is still the fastest and its time utilityfunction is the best.However, there are few number of reported accidents which were

A CROSS-SECTION OF THE NIGERIAN AIR

TRANSPORT

A CROSS-SECTION OF PLANE CRASHES IN NIGERIA

TRANSPORT AUTHORITIES IN NIGERIA

There are lots of transport authorities in Nigeria which control all activitiesin the road, sea and airways sectors. All these are under the powers of thefederal government i.e. the federal ministry of transport. These are:qNigerian Shippers Council (NSC)qNigerian Ports Authority (NPA)qNigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA)qMaritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN)qNigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT)qNigerian Railway Corporation (NRC)qNigerian Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA)qNational Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW)qFederal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN)qNigerian Clearing and Forwarding Agency (NCFA)

IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPORT INDUSTRY TO

NIGERIAN ECONOMY Stimulates national development and enhances quality of life for all. Allows markets to operate by enabling seamless movement of goods and

people. Provides access to employment, health, education and services. Alleviates regional inequality and fosters national integration. Increases access to markets and links local, regional, national and

international markets. It increases governments revenues. It facilitates and boosts the tourism sector.

CHALLENGES AND PROBLEMS

qThe size of the country.qNigerias vast natural resources.qEnvironmental pollution and energy consumption.qPoor government investments in infrastructure development.qPoor implementation and enforcement of government policies.qInadequate design and construction.qPoor maintenance.qPoor and ineffective transport management.qAccidents and safety.qTraffic congestion and parking difficulties.